


little sour apple

by AFireInTheAttic



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Autumn, Gen, Nightmares, other characters make brief appearances but not enough to warrant a tag, reflections
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2018-12-31 20:11:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12140190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AFireInTheAttic/pseuds/AFireInTheAttic
Summary: It would be fine.After all, with her friends? Well, if something was coming, they would fucking destroy it.





	little sour apple

**Author's Note:**

> oh my god it was such a struggle to pare this down to 1000 words. there was much more of this originally and I could definitely see it continuing.

It was a weird kind of morning.

The only sound Kim could hear was Fiona listening to the radio in her bedroom. Zack must be gone already. She sat up and rubbed her eyes blearily before checking her phone and starting to get ready for work.

She’d moved in with Zack and his mom back in May, after graduation, when she’d told her parents she wasn’t going to college—at least not yet—and her dad had stopped speaking to her. She knew this must be frustrating for him, but she didn’t really give a shit. He could find a replacement pink ranger if it bothered him so much.

Her mom had sent her a good morning text and a reminder to come by while her dad was at work to get some food and some money to help out with the rent. At least one of her parents wasn’t a shit head.

Zack had left some coffee in the pot for her, and she poured it into a mug just so she could have something warm to hold in her hands. She stared out of the window at the changing leaves and tried not to think about the nightmare she'd had.

It wasn’t really working.

She took a long pull of coffee, and then went to get dressed. Yesterday’s jeans, a gray sweater that she stole from Jason, and a black beanie that Trini had forgotten.

She and Zack both ran to work most days, and the weather was perfect for it today. She jogged up toward the outskirts of the trailer park before taking off at a less human pace.

Working at the only Starbucks in Angel Grove wasn't glamorous, but it helped pay the bills and it was actually pretty satisfying. She was great at steaming milk, and her customer service voice had always been perfect, from years of cheer. Serving grumpy fishermen Pike Place with room for cream was an okay distraction from the man she’d dreamt of—if he could be called a man.

Jason came into the café just as she started to lose herself in the strange red tint she remembered from her dream.

He looked fucking exhausted. He always did, now that he was balancing being a power ranger with working on his dad’s fishing boat. “Hey,” he said. “Quad, please.”

“Hitting it hard today, huh?” Kim said. She rang him up and, since she was alone behind the counter for the moment, gave him her discount. “Everything okay?”

He grunted. “Sure. Just a normal day.”

She frowned. Jason could be as pissy as any of them, but he wasn't normally bleak. She was positive things weren’t okay, but wouldn't bring it up in Starbucks, where anyone could walk. Maybe later, they could meet up.

“I hope you feel better soon.”

“Thanks,” he said, and then narrowed his eyes at her. “Is that my sweater?”

She frowned right back at him. “Are those my leggings?”

“Fuck off,” he said. He didn’t look even slightly repentant, even though she knew she wouldn’t be getting those back.

She put on a serious face and moved to queue up his shots. "Excuse me, we don’t tolerate threats of violence—“

“Pretty sure they’re mine,” he interrupted, smirking. “They’ve inhaled so many fish guts in the past two days, I don't think you want them.”

Sure enough.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a bitch. Also, gross, you didn’t change?”

He shrugged, completely unapologetic.

“Talk later,” she said, because more customers were walking in. She slid his espresso across the counter. “And thank you for coming in! Enjoy your coffee.” She went for extra perky just to get a smile out of him—and she couldn't help but smile back when it worked.

During a lull in customers, while she wiped down the counters, she couldn’t help but think of the man in her dream again. He’d been monstrous, and even though she hadn’t seen his eyes, she'd felt his hatred when he’d looked at her.

She didn’t want to admit it, but it felt like the vision Zordon had shown them of Rita, but more horrific. Which made sense, because the man had been skinless.

She tried to reassure herself—she wasn’t psychic, or anything so freaky as that. Sure, a power ranger, but seeing the future wasn't in her skillset. It was probably only sticking with her because of how…weird it was.

She couldn’t help but wonder if Jason had had the same nightmare. Maybe that’s why he was acting oddly.

Work passed without incident, and she marked out a chicken quinoa bowl as she left. She and Zack could split it for lunch, if he was off shift. She had a few texts, mostly from Billy, who'd sent a handful of memes. One was from Trini, who wanted to get donuts.

She smiled at each message before checking the group calendar. There was a window of three hours that night where no one was doing homework or working. Jason would be back on the boat the next morning, so he probably wouldn’t want to train, so she added an event to their calendar and called it “hangout?” With the question mark, it meant a bonfire. Maybe they could pool their money and buy some beer and s’mores.

She didn’t want to think it, even, but she didn't want to tell Zordon about her dream. It had felt real, but she wanted to believe that it was just nonsense brought on by a bad gas station burrito. She’d rather tell Trini about it while sharing popcorn, or listen to Billy theorize about what it meant.

She didn’t want Zordon to name the monster, to prove he was as real as he felt.

Her phone pinged four times in as many minutes, as each of them accepted the invite. She smiled, suddenly warm despite the fear from her dream and the autumn chill in the air. It'd be fine.

They were power rangers. If something was coming, they'd fucking destroy it.

**Author's Note:**

> If it wasn't clear, the bad guy in her dreams is Lord Zedd, who I really wanna see in the new mmpr verse!! my dream tbh. 
> 
> The title is a quote from Lord Zedd bc... I couldn't think of anything?


End file.
